Michael Pittman, Ph.D.

Education

Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Religious Studies, State University of New York at Stony Brook

Courses Taught at ACPHS

Religion and Film Middle Eastern Literature and FilmIslam and Sufism Introduction to Buddhism The Short StoryThe Pre-modern WorldThe Modern World

Research Interests

G.I. Gurdjieff and the Role of Orality in Spiritual Teaching and Practice; Sufi Poetry; Religious Themes in Medieval Literature; Classical Themes in Contemporary Sufism and Buddhism. Faith and Redemption in the films of Andrei Tarkovsky, Lars von Trier, and Wim Wenders; The Islamic Other in Iranian Cinema.

Selected Publications

Book

"Classical Spirituality in Contemporary America: The Confluence and Contribution of G.I. Gurdjieff and Sufism", Continuum Publishing, London, May 2012.

"Soul-Making in Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson", Proceedings of the All and Everything International Humanities Conference. Seymour Ginsburg and Ian MacFarlane, editors. England, 2007, pages 79-96."